The Pavilion Leisure Centre in Flint was officially renamed the Jade Jones Pavilion in honour of the Olympic gold winner

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Tough decisions will need to be made in the coming months over the future of Flintshire’s leisure facilities.

A review of the county’s assets – which cannot be sustained at current levels – has been underway since the end of last year and is expected to be completed within six months.

It was sparked in part by an £800,000 overspend following the £6m upgrade of Deeside and Flint Jade Jones leisure centres.

Once the review is complete, councillors will need to look at ways of making savings which could see facilities such as libraries and community centre buildings being shut.

Radical proposals which would be considered include moving such services under the roof of bigger leisure centres, or ask community groups to take over the running of the leisure facilities.

Flintshire council’s lead member for leisure, Kevin Jones, has reassured residents that there will not be a “slash and burn” process over services but admitted they have to be “pragmatic”.

Asked whether the newly revamped Deeside and Flint Jade Jones leisure centres could be at risk of closure, Cllr Jones gave an emphatic “no”.

“We’re quite clear as a cabinet that it is our intention to do whatever we can so that frontline services and leisure facilities are retained,” he said.

“We’ll not be like other areas with a slash and burn process and close services. We’ll look at the models available to us.

“We have to look at how the entire portfolio is managed and run. There is a review of properties in Flintshire from top to bottom to determine where we stand, what we need to retain or shouldn’t if the case may be. Some assets will be better suited to a transfer. We have to be pragmatic, we know the financial situation is going to worsen in the next two years.

“In terms of the review we’re probably looking at another six months before it’s completed.”

Cllr Jones says the Deeside and Flint Jade Jones upgrades were agreed by the previous administration without an effective long-term plan to pay for it. This has been exacerbated by the fact fewer people have been visiting the sites than predicted – the Deeside centre because of competition from a new ice rink at Widnes.

“The work carried out has been very good but the bottom line is the method of payment was never realistic,” said Cllr Jones. “Projected income streams were way out and what’s more worrying is that no provision was made for long term funding.”

One of the options that the council is exploring is housing services such as libraries inside leisure centres, with Holywell and Queensferry possibly the first in line.

Cllr Jones said: “It makes sense to have as many facilities in one place as possible but it must be reasonable enough for residents to attend. It’s all dependent on location.”

The total culture and leisure budget is £6.87m, of which £2.32m relates to leisure centres, the council stated prior to the review getting under way last year. The overspend for culture and leisure is estimated at £827,000, made up of a £960,000 overspend on leisure centres, offset by savings and efficiencies of £133,000 on other services.

A Flintshire Council spokesman said: “Between 2009 and 2013, the number of people visiting our leisure centres to take part in physical activity increased from 1.2m to over 1.5m. Progress has also been made in improving customer service and increasing participation. Extensive work is being carried out to review service delivery and to ensure future maintenance and renewal of the council’s leisure assets. An asset review is underway to consider how to make best use of leisure assets whilst still providing the best customer service.”